CINCINNATI — The Browns punting unit was a smoothly running machine until it broke down Sunday at the worst time possible.
Spencer Lanning, who was averaging 45.7 yards a punt when he awoke Sunday morning in his hotel room, had one punt partially blocked and one blocked and returned for a touchdown by the Bengals in a game the Browns gave away, 41-20, on a dreary day along the Ohio River.
The partial block went nine yards. The snap from Christian Yount appeared to flutter and Lanning had to adjust to catch it. Safety Shawn Williams tipped the ball and it sailed out of bounds at the Browns 38.
Five plays later, the Bengals took a 14-13 lead.
Lanning did not blame Yount. the Browns’ long snapper.
“I caught it clean, walked up field and hit my line,” Lanning said. “The guy barely got a piece of it.”
Lanning lined up to punt two stalled possessions later. Bengals linebacker Jayson DiManche broke from Lanning’s right, ran by Barkevious Mingo and swatted the ball. It bounced crazily. Safety Tony Dye tried twice to pick it up before gaining control. He ran 24 yards for a touchdown and a 21-13 edge.
It was the first time since 1993 a Browns punt was blocked and the first time since 1990 an opponent returned a blocked punt for a touchdown.
“It seemed like a clean operation,” Lanning said.
“My head’s down as soon as I catch the ball. So I’m not really sure what happens up front. I believe in our guys and it just wasn’t good enough today.”
Mingo took blame for letting DiManche fly by him. Chris Ogbonnaya was in the area but had other responsibilities. He saw DiManche out of the corner of his eye and tried to pick him up but barely scraped him.
“That’s my responsibility,” Mingo said. “I didn’t do my job. The guy made a great play, blocked a punt, (they) picked it up. I’ve got to do better than that.”
Lanning punted seven times, including the block, for a 33.0 yard average.Clamping down
Bengals receiver A.J. Green had five straight 100-yard receiving games before Sunday. Joe Haden held him to two catches for seven yards.
Haden had two interceptions in the same game for the first time in his four years in the NFL and scored his first NFL touchdown on a 29-yard return in the first quarter. It gave the Browns a 13-0 lead.
Haden disagreed when the reporter suggested Haden’s day was wasted.
“Not wasted,” Haden said. “I’m always out there trying to help our team win any time I can. With the pick-six, I’m just a little upset right now. Just a little upset.”
Haden has a team-high three of the Browns’ eight interceptions.
Throw it up there
Jason Campbell threw 56 passes (27 completed) Sunday. That was the third most in team history. Colt McCoy threw 61 against the Titans on Oct. 2, 2011, a game the Browns lost, 31-13. Brian Sipe threw 57 on Sept. 7, 1981 in a game the Browns lost to the Chargers, 44-14.
Injury report
Browns linebacker Craig Robertson left the game with a knee injury. Wide receiver Armanti Edwards suffered an ankle injury.He said it
The Bengals’ season was about to go down the tubes. The Browns led, 13-0, and the Bengals showed no sign of life on offense until Cincinnati defensive end Michael Johnson tipped a pass that fell into the hands of linebacker James Harrison. The Bengals scored a touchdown off the takeaway and three more Browns errors, including the two flawed punts.
“I guess we’ll continue to major in thrilling at this point,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “We showed great resilience, perseverance and the ability to come back today.”
The Bengals lost two straight games in overtime before beating the Browns.Bad day passing
Both quarterbacks had their troubles throwing the ball. Campbell’s passer rating was 44.3. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton completed only 13 of 27 passes for 118 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. His passer rating was 62.7.
“It’s a big win for us,” Dalton said “Cleveland, they’ve done a lot of really good things. For us to come out and get a big win in this one and kind of do it with a bunch of different ways of scoring points was really good.”Numbers lie
The Browns had 15 first downs to only 10 for the Bengals. They outgained Cincinnati, 330-224, and won the time of possession, 32:24 to 27:36.

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About the Author

Jeff has covered the Cleveland Browns since 1981. He also covers the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League and the Cleveland Gladiators in the Arena Football League. Reach the author at jschudel@news-herald.com
or follow Jeff on Twitter: @jsbrownsinsider.